All films are in English unless otherwise noted.
FRIDAY, JUNE 22ND
12:30 PM: SATAN’S SLAVES (Indonesia / 2017 / 107m)
Director: Joko Anwar
Screenplay: Joko Anwar, Sisworo Gautama Putra
with Bront Palare, Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, Dimas Aditya
Joko Anwar’s remake of the 1980s Indonesian horror satansploitation classic SATAN’S SLAVES proves that two things are universal: Nostalgia and the power of a good haunted house movie. Anwar uses every filmmaking trick at his disposal to create a giddy roller-coaster ride of a film, powered by strong performances from its child cast and a sustained bombardment of scares that starts early and doesn’t let up until the all-out Satanic madness of the climax. A gigantic hit in its native Indonesia, SATAN’S SLAVES will have you clutching your armrests no matter what language you speak.
In Indonesian with English subtitles. A second screening of SATAN’S SLAVES will take place on Monday, June 25th at 9:45 PM.
4:45 PM THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY (Ireland / 2018 / 90m)
Director: Aislinn Clarke
Screenplay: Martin Brennan & Aislinn Clarke
with Lalor Roddy, Ciaran Flynn, Helena Bereen, Lauren Coe
If you spend much time on the horror film festival circuit, you know that we’ve had a fantastic infusion of Irish genre films over the past few years — and this creepy, priestsploitation import from the Emerald Isle seems likely to keep that trend cooking. And if you think you’ve seen everything “found footage” has to offer, feel free to settle in with this eerie tale of two priests who travel to a secluded home for “fallen women,” only to discover a horrifying conspiracy that may or may not be supernatural in nature.
9:45 PM: HEAVY TRIP (HEVI REISSU) (Finland / 2018 / 92m)
Directors: Juuso Laatio & Jukka Vidgren
Screenplay: Juuso Laatio & Aleksi Puranen
with: Torstein Bjørklund, Antti Heikkinen, Ville Hilska, Johannes Holopainen
Hailing from a small village in Northern Finland, musician Turo (Johannes Holopainen) is trying to overcome his fears by leading an unknown heavy metal cover band, Impaled Rektum, to Norway’s biggest metal festival. This road trip bandsploitation comedy includes a musical brotherhood, grave robbing, Viking heaven, and an armed conflict between Finland and Norway. HEAVY TRIP marks the feature debut for co-directors Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren.
In Finnish with English subtitles. A second screening of HEAVY TRIP will take place on Wednesday, June 27th at 4:45 PM.
11:59 PM: WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE (US / 2018 / 98m)
Written and Directed by: Colin Minihan
with Hannah Emily Anderson, Brittany Allen, Martha MacIsaac
WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE, Colin Minihan’s artfully suspenseful wifesploitation follow-up to his 2016 film IT STAINS THE SANDS RED, opens with two women pulling up to a remote cabin to celebrate their wedding anniversary. But don’t expect your standard pick-’em-off slasher storyline. Both a brutal tale of survival horror and a devastating relationship drama, WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE turns on a shocking act of betrayal early in the film and only gets more twisted from there.
SATURDAY, JUNE 23RD
1:00 PM: A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN (Thailand / 2018 / 116m)
Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Screenplay: Jonathan Hirschbein; Screenwriter: Nick Saltrese
with Joe Cole, Vithaya Pansringarm, Panya Yimmumphai, Nicolas Shake
Based on the remarkable true story of Billy Moore (Joe Cole), a young English boxer incarcerated in two of Thailand’s most notorious prisons. He is quickly thrown into a terrifying world of drugs and gang violence, but when the prison authorities allow him to take part in the Muay Thai boxing tournaments, he realizes this might be his chance to get out. Billy embarks on a relentless, action-packed fightsploitation journey from one savage fight to the next, stopping at nothing to preserve his life and regain his freedom. Shot in an actual Thai prison with a cast made up primarily of real inmates, A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN is a visceral, thrilling journey through an unforgettable hell on earth. Directed by rising newcomer Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (JOHNNY MAD DOG).
Language: Thai
3:30 PM: THE BILL MURRAY STORIES: LIFE LESSONS LEARNED FROM A MYTHICAL MAN (US / 2018 / 70m)
Director: Tommy Avallone
Screenplay: Tommy Avallone & Max Paolucci
with John Barnhardt, Jonathan Davis, Albert DiGiacomo
Director Johnny Kevorkian in attendance for a post-film Q&A!
You’ve heard the tales–random chance encounters with funny man Billy Murray–some of which sound more like urban legend than reality. THE BILL MURRAY STORIES chronicles one man’s journey to find meaning in Murray’s many unexpected billmurraysploitation adventures with everyday people, using rare and never-before seen footage of the comedic icon popping in on events like he was beamed in from outer space. Whether he’s singing karaoke late at night with strangers, crashing a kickball game in the middle of the afternoon, or posing as part of a wedding party, Bill Murray lives in the moment and, by doing so, gives us all hope that a similar kind of magic will touch our lives as well.
11:59 PM: PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH (US / 2018 / 84m)
Directors: Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund
Screenplay: S. Craig Zahler
with: Charlyne Yi, Thomas Lennon, MIchael Paré, Udo Kier
Astute horror fans know the long and colorful history of the PUPPET MASTER franchise: kicked off in 1989 and boasting no less than ten wild puppetsploitation sequels, it has blossomed into one of the most beloved series on the indie horror circuit, even though the puppets are technically marionettes. But now the franchise is getting a reboot of sorts, courtesy of the man who wrote BONE TOMAHAWK, a pair of directors who are more than willing to get gory, nasty, and politically incorrect, and a top-notch genre flick ensemble that’ll keep those horrors fans happy.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24TH
11:45 AM: WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS (US / 2018 / 91m)
Written and Directed by André Gower
with Shake Black, Fred Dekker, Ryan Lambert, Seth Green, Heather Langenkamp
A heartfelt fansploitation documentary exploring the power of the 1987 cult film THE MONSTER SQUAD and its 30-year impact on its rabid fan base, the cast and crew, and the future of tween horror comedies. Making his feature debut, actor-turned-director André Gower brings us behind the scenes on the making of the film and digs into what made viewing it such a defining part of many genre fans’ upbringing. Make sure you check out the Daily Grindhouse Interview with André Gower (Sean) and Ryan Lambert (Rudy) from last year’s Fantastic Fest. And while digging through the DAILY GRINDHOUSE archives, take a look at this Q&A with Fred Dekker, André Gower, and Ryan Lambert from the 2016 Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival
9:30 PM: CLARA’S GHOST (US / 2018 / 80m)
Written & Directed by Bridey Elliott
with Paula Niedert Elliott, Chris Elliott, Abby Elliott, Haley Joel Osment
In a true family affair, actor Ted Reynolds (Chris Elliot) and Clara (his real-life wife Paula Niedert Elliott), his scattered, homemaker wife, welcome their 20-something daughters—a pair of former child stars (their real-life daughters, Abby Elliott and writer/director Bridey Elliott)—back to their Connecticut home so Ted and the girls can be in a family-themed photo shoot for an airplane magazine. The hard-drinking clan’s banter becomes increasingly bitter and petty, and the reunion devolves into a drunken, hurtful and darkly funny ghostsploitation mess. As if that weren’t enough, a ghost that only Clara can see urges her to confront her self-centered family.
A second screening of CLARA’S GHOST will take place on Monday, June 25th at 5:00 PM.
9:45 PM: SUMMER OF ’84 (US / 2018 / 105)
Director: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell
Screenplay: Matt Leslie & Steve Smith
with Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Rich Sommer
For 15-year-old Davey (Graham Verchere), the thought of having a serial killer in his suburban town circa the 1980s is a scary yet exciting prospect at the start of a lazy summer. In hormonal overdrive, Davey and his friends dream of sexual conquests until they hear news reports of the Cape May Killer. Davey convinces his friends that they must investigate, and they come to the conclusion that his next-door neighbor, an unassuming, single police officer, could be the prime suspect. Is this a case of successful amateur sleuthing, or simply an overactive imagination fueled by 1980sploitation Reagan-era paranoia? From the directing trio that brought the world 2015’s TURBO KID.
MONDAY, JUNE 25TH
2:30 PM: THE CAPTAIN (DER HAUPTMANN) (Germany / 2017 / 118m)
Written & Directed by Robert Schwentke
with Max Hubacher, Milan Peschel, Frederick Lau, Bernd Hölscher
Based on a disturbing true story, the film follows Willi Herold (Max Hubacher), a German army deserter who stumbles across an abandoned Nazi captain’s uniform during the desperate final weeks of the Third Reich. Emboldened by the stolen suit, Willi discovers that many of his countrymen will follow anyone in a uniform giving orders, and the result is a nazisploitation parade of fresh, deprived atrocities that serve as a profound reminder of the consequences of social conformity and unchecked political power.
In German with English subtitles.
TUESDAY, JUNE 26TH
2:30 PM SEVEN STAGES TO ACHIEVE ETERNAL BLISS BY PASSING THROUGH THE GATEWAY CHOSEN BY THE HOLY STORSH (US / 2018 / 90m)
Director: Vivieno Caldinelli
Screenplay: Christopher Hewitson & Clayton Hewitson
with Taika Waititi, Rhea Seehorn, Sam Huntington, Kate Micucci
A small-town Ohio couple (Kate Micucci and Sam Huntington) thinks they’ve found the perfect, inexpensive Los Angeles apartment, except for one catch: the domicile is home to the ritualistic suicides of a deranged cult, led by its mysterious leader (Taika Waititi). And the guru’s followers keep breaking into the couple’s home to kill themselves in his honor. But rather than move out, the pair become increasingly fascinated by the cult’s belief system. Filled to the brim with funny cameos from the likes of Mindy Sterling, Mark McKinney, Dan Harmon, Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, and Dana Gould, this surreal pitch-black comedy (courtesy of first-time feature director Vivieno Caldinelli) moves from unpredictable to unconventional while maintaining a great deal of cultsploitation charm and heart.
A second screening of SEVEN STAGES TO ACHIEVE ETERNAL BLISS BY PASSING THROUGH THE GATEWAY CHOSEN BY THE HOLY STORSH will take place on Wednesday, June 27th at 9:30 PM
All films are shown in DCP format.
Tags: Aislinn Clarke, Andre Gower, Anouk Whissell, Bridey Elliott, Cinepocalypse, Cinepocalypse 2018, Colin Minihan, François Simard, Joko Anwar, Jukka Vidgren, Juuso Laatio, Robert Schwentke, The Wire, Tommy Avallone, Vivieno Caldinelli, Yoann-Karl Whissell
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